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Youth Shotgun


High Cotton

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Most important thing to do is cut the stock so that it fits the shooter. Save the cut piece so that it can be added back to the gun as they grow older. The seams can be covered up with a leather buttstock cover.

 

As for the gun, if weight is an issue get a single shot break open shotgun. Ejectors on a single shot shotgun are SASS legal. You can pick them up in pawn shops for next to nothing.

 

It has been my experience that most kids want to shoot the same guns as the adults. 12 gauge can be loaded extremely light and will have less felt recoil than a 20 ga or a .410 shooting factory shells. 12 gauge shells are a lot less expensive as well. 

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16 doubles are fun. I have 20 doubles for grandchildren and Scouts. I shoot tens so 12s are not good for me because they're too close to 10s..I even have a .410 double for little kids.

 

All of my shotguns use brass Shells

I load them for the comfort of the shooter.

 

I start everyone with black powder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I shot with a buckarette at Land Run who shot shotgun shells loaded with wads but no shot.  Over course she never knocked anything over, but her wads did bounce off the shotgun targets.  Recoil was quite manageable.

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Don't underestimate the good old 12 ga.  A properly fitted stock and recoil pad, with appropriate loads will eliminate a substantial amount of felt recoil.

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im in the court of fitting them with a 12ga if possible for all the reasons above but also to eliminate the need for carrying another caliber , you can download 12s to 20 or 28 ga shot levels with little to no effort , i do it all the time and i like my light loads a lot , any kid could shoot my loads that can hold the coach gun up , near no kick at all but knocks down a target no problem , 

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I set up my 10 year old granddaughter with a 12 ga that was made to fit her. I won't state the load data in detail, but it was 8 grains with a 3/4 oz load. She takes down everything that she hits and recoil is next to nothing.

J.M

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2 minutes ago, Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L said:

I set up my 10 year old granddaughter with a 12 ga that was made to fit her. I won't state the load data in detail, but it was 8 grains with a 3/4 oz load. She takes down everything that she hits and recoil is next to nothing.

J.M

Thanks for the info.  I found some load data online for youth.  They recommend 3/4 oz too.  I'll start with that and play a bit. 

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On 1/20/2023 at 10:41 PM, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

I shot with a buckarette at Land Run who shot shotgun shells loaded with wads but no shot.  Over course she never knocked anything over, but her wads did bounce off the shotgun targets.  Recoil was quite manageable.

Reminds me of an instance in a Wild Bunch match when a shooter hit and downed a shotgun target with what appeared to be a wad with no shot.  It was not intentionally loaded that way; I figured his press either failed to dispense shot or his crimp opened, allowing the shot to fall out of the cartridge.

 

A good natured “What’s the Call” discussion ensued, because “it’s supposed to be a SHOTgun, not a WADgun”.  We ended with a “no call” since we don’t know whether a pellet of two may have remained in the wad that was fired.  BOD to the shooter and all.

 

Begs the question of the legality of such a no-shot (or very little shot) cartridge.  Hey, save on shot to afford primers!

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Another vote for a cut down 12 ga SxS.   I just sold one that was but down to 12" LOP that would have been ideal.   

 

BTW,, most folks would be faster with a cut down stock.  I am 5'10" and used that shortened gun very well.  

 

The important thing is to get one that easy to open so they are not struggling with it.  

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On 1/20/2023 at 9:15 PM, Sedalia Dave said:

It has been my experience that most kids want to shoot the same guns as the adults. 12 gauge can be loaded extremely light and will have less felt recoil than a 20 ga or a .410 shooting factory shells. 12 gauge shells are a lot less expensive as well. 

This is what I did for my 8 year old Shyster's Revenge and he's a little guy. If you load your own 12ga you can dumb the shell down really light. If you don't you can still pick up a Lee Load-All and components for SG are getting easier to find. 410 AAs are $30 a box so there was no way I was going that route. 

 

We cut his SG down so much there was no way I would be able to put it back like Dave suggested so I just bought another stock for when he gets bigger. I also made his buttplate out of heavy brass stock to balance out the barrels. It's working very well for him. 

 

You won't have more fun in this game than watching the little ones shoot and improve so rapidly. 

 

 

JEL

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My son started when the lowest age allowed was 12, late 1980's...  He was ten, so he only shot local matches, there was no Buckaroo category, so he shot as a Junior.  I got a Stoeger Uplander, (with it's longer barrels easier to open), and cut the stock to fit him.  At about age 14, I replaced the stock with a replacement and he used that until he quit.  A few years later someone on the Wire asked about shortening a stock for his son, I sent him my son's old one;  hopefully he passed it along when it was outgrown.  

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I would talk to @Taos his boy has been growing up in the sport and he will have some great hands on experience.

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Just about everyone I have ever introduced to shooting has said the 12g was their favorite of the entire experience... especially when shooting at cabbage or pumpkins. I bought a very rough LC Smith dated 1948, restored it, and it's an absolute blast. Everyone gets a kick when they open it for the first time and it ejects the shells about 10 feet rearward.

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Having been a 4-H shotgun coach for 16 year and shooting SASS for 6 years i would always suggest sacrificing the gun and not the child.

I have explained to many parents that the weight difference between 410-20-and 12 is very little and the best gauge for success is a 12ga.

Cutting the stock and or barrel to make the gun fit the child is the is the best bet.  you can always add the cut stock pieces back on or order a new stock from the manufacture. I would not suggest a single shot as most of them are hammered and are extremely hard to get cocked and are easy to slip on and have an accidental discharge.

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